Welcome to the first full week of June, intrepid readers. The new month has some interesting events and new businesses opening this summer. At the end of this article, I’ll share my summer plans for the Amador Business Ticker.

Never Fear, Boba is (Almost) Here

The Vextor Boba Tea Lounge sign is up at the restaurant space next to Vermicelli at the food court in the Amador Ridge Plaza shopping center in Martell. Vextor has also established a Facebook profile page and they’ve been posting help wanted ads as well as information about what bubble tea is.

A couple of weeks ago, I sent a message to the Vextor Facebook administrator and asked when the business will be open, and I was told by the end of June. Subsequent queries by others on the Vextor Facebook profile page have received the answer, “the next few weeks.” So, it seems eager customers will be able to get their boba fix in early summer. And all the food court spots will be filled for the first time since Dickey’s Barbecue Pit closed.

Envision Jackson

City of Jackson Visioning WorkshopThe City of Jackson will be holding what they call a visioning workshop for their General Plan Update tonight at 6:00 p.m. During the meeting, city staff will ask participants to share their ideas about important topics, including:

  • Accommodating future growth
  • Attracting and keeping good jobs
  • Land use
  • Infrastructure
  • Resource conservation
  • Public services

You can take part in person or online. The workshop will be held at the Civic Center at 33 Broadway in Jackson. If you prefer to attend online, visit the city website for the link to join the meeting.

New Tune

A fictitious business name statement has been filed for the Amador School of Music, with a business address listed as 25 Broadway in Jackson. The name of the registrant is Emily Tessmer, who is an artist and musician in Pioneer.

A look at Broadway both in person and in Google Maps only shows 21 Broadway in the southeast corner of the Masonic building at the corner of Water Street and Broadway. The music school probably won’t be in Jackson Creek under the bridge, so the likely location is in one of the upstairs offices above 21 Broadway. The statement says the school hasn’t opened for business yet.

Fixing Highway 104

When I talked to Bob Highfill at Caltrans last week, he said that Caltrans also has plans to repave sections of Highway 104 in the county but didn’t have concrete information.

Last week, I received more information from Highfill about the locations where the Highway 104 repaving will take place:

  • California Route 104The Sacramento County line to Sutter Lane in Ione. If you’re familiar with this intersection, Sutter Lane is the dividing line between Michigan Bar Road to the northwest and Preston Avenue to the southeast.
  • From East Washington Street/South Arroyo Seco Street east to Highway 88 at the Highway 104/Jackson Valley Road intersection.
  • Ridge Road from Highway 88 to Highway 49.

So, if you’re going on Highway 104 to and from Ione, prepare for a lot of fun this summer navigating construction crews and delays. Check the Caltrans QuickMap website or mobile app for the latest construction updates.

Summer Plans

Since the Amador Business Ticker launched in May 2020, I’ve worked to provide one feature story every Monday and one new food review almost every Monday. Two recent events have compelled me to change my publication schedule for the foreseeable future.

In March, I was diagnosed with COPD. The summer heat that returned last week has affected my ability to breathe. On top of migraines and their side effects that I already deal with, I don’t have as much energy now. I expect that feeling to remain through the summer. And I’ve found that people who are interested in being interviewed are asking me to wait for weeks or months. That’s a side effect of the county and state exiting the pandemic.

Peek Street at Highway 49/88 Jackson CASo, you’ll continue to see food reviews on Mondays. My mother and I will still be going out to county restaurants every week because there are still plenty of restaurants we haven’t been to. Those food reviews may be the feature story of the week.

Feature stories and/or interviews will be published as news comes in, but right now I expect many of those stories will be digests (like this one!) and information about upcoming city and county meetings that affect businesses. Features may be published on days other than Mondays, too, especially if I think you need to know about a story right away.

You may have also noticed that the advertising squares are gone. Despite some nibbles, I got only one bite (thanks, John Bonfiglio), so I’m dropping advertising for now. I’m looking at other ways to make money so I can keep the Ticker going. I’ll wait to implement any strategies until I see how I feel when the heat abates in the fall.

I’ll share more updates when I have some. As always, thanks for reading.

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